


The Way Back

by Sioux



Category: Stargate SG-1
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-03-27
Updated: 2012-03-27
Packaged: 2017-11-02 14:40:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,677
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/370111
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sioux/pseuds/Sioux
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This was written way before Daniel was even rumoured to be returning to SG-1, hence we have Davies not Jonas on the team.</p><p>Disclaimer : Don’t own ‘em and not making a penny off them!<br/>Summary : Jack meets up with an old friend</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Way Back

“Sir!”

“Yes, Carter?”

“We’re getting more anomalous energy readings, but I can’t really pin point a direction.”

“Not even a rough direction?” O’Neill asked.

Carter studied the instrument in her hand then pointed to the left.

“Stronger indications, over there, sir.”

“Then over there it is.”

Teal’c and O’Neill set off at a walk, leading the way, leaving Carter and Davies to bring up the rear. They stopped at a yawning black hole of an entrance to a cavern.

“Inside?” Jack asked, hoping for a negative reply.

“Looks that way, Sir,” she said, not noticing his grimace.

“Heads up people and keep together,” he ordered, going in.

They entered the cavern which was large enough for even Teal’c to be able to walk upright. Faintly ahead of them the sound of swiftly running water reached their ears. The only possible way forward was towards the water. The path, sloping steeply down, quickly became so narrow that they had to proceed in single file. The pathway levelled out when it ran alongside the underground river. The rocky walled surroundings seemed to magnify the sound of the rushing water so that the noise was deafening. The river was very fast, glinting darkly beneath their combined torchlight. O’Neill took a look about. The view wasn’t exactly inspiring either. Damp rock, the river and a ledge above the rushing water. Without their lights it would be pitch dark and it was very cold, their breath condensing immediately.

‘Great vacation country,’ Jack thought to himself.

O’Neill motioned his team forward, treading carefully and lightly along the ledge. Further along, the banking changed from stable rocky ledge to crumbly packed pebbles and silt. It also got narrower and narrower whilst the rushing water changed to a roar. 

Abruptly the banking widened out with several more branches leading away from the sides of the river whilst the river itself disappeared through a hole in the far wall, which accounted for the volume of the thundering roar reverberating through the cavern. 

O’Neill silently gave directions to his team that he and Teal’c would investigate one of the branching pathways whilst Carter and Davies should investigate the next one. 

Davies nodded once then turned quickly to check the instrument in Carter’s hand to see the status of the strange energy readings. As he turned the banking beneath his feet seemed to crumble. He desperately threw himself forward, Carter coming to his aid a few seconds later, closely followed by O’Neill and Teal’c. 

Teal’c and Carter got hold of his arms, pulling him forward while Jack pulled him by his pack straps out of the water, which seemed reluctant to release it’s prize. Perhaps further weakened by all the scuffling and struggling O’Neill felt the ground give way further, his feet going from under him. He pitched, head first, into the freezing flow. 

The current was unbelievably powerful as it carried him along. In seconds his clothing was drenched and a hundred icy, wet fingers caressed his skin. He struck out for the bank as strongly as he could but even in the short time he had been in the water he had been carried quite a way away from his team. 

He could faintly hear Teal’c shouting over the thundering torrent, but couldn’t see him as the river threw him about and twisted him around. He tried again to grab onto the banking but it crunched and crumbled against his hand, leaving him with a handful of dust and pebbles. His strongest swimming strokes were making little appreciable difference to the speed and direction he was going whilst the dull roar grew louder filling his ears. 

As he was spun around he caught sight of the mighty river abruptly disappearing through the hole in the rock wall. Desperately he tried to pit himself against the inexorable current to stay this side of oblivion but he was no match for the millions of gallons of water pouring along. The current whipped his feet away from the rock and spun him around, his head striking the stone, stunning him. He was unceremoniously pulled over the rocky edge and found himself in freefall as the level of the channel on the other side of the hole was several feet lower, before the river continued on it’s way, deeper into the cave system. 

He managed to struggle to the surface against the terrifying weight of cold water pushing against his chest. As he broke the surface, coughing and spluttering, and trying to find his bearings a bright flash of light illuminated the chamber he was passing through. There wasn’t enough time for him to do anything more than take a quick look before he was dashed against the opposite wall and then on and into a more narrow channel which allowed the water to run even faster than before. His torch had gone out, his gun was hanging around his shoulders by its strap and his clothes were so wet they were beginning to drag him under. He coughed up the water he’d breathed and swallowed and tried again to hang onto any part of the bank. Again and again his hold was ripped away and he was bashed along at the mercy of the current for what seemed like hours, on a dizzying ride in icy cold blackness, totally unable to see where he was and where he was heading until a vicious outcrop knocked him unconscious just before he was poured into a wide, shallow pool. 

He lay face down in the water, slowly turning in circles as the momentum from his trip along the river bled off. The freezing temperature had reduced his brain’s demand for oxygen to virtually nil which was just as well because his larynx had reflexively spasmed cutting off his ability to breathe whilst his heart, in distress from lack of oxygen, slowed into brachycardia, unable to properly pump blood, oxygenated or otherwise, around his body. 

Just as his heart stopped beating altogether another burst of light lit up the cavern showing a wide pool and several metres of rocky banking surrounding it. The flash of light settled to a steady glow then coalesced as a being seemingly materialised out of nowhere, dashed forward and began dragging O’Neill out of the water. 

The being was humanoid in shape but it emitted a blue, white light so bright it would have hurt the eyes to look at it for long. However, it did demonstrate a knowledge of humans as it efficiently divested O’Neill of his pack and weapon then wiped away the froth from around his mouth, turned him onto his face and started to pump his lungs free of water. It touched his neck, feeling for a pulse but couldn’t find one so it turned his body over again, undid his jacket and shirt then placed both of it’s hands against his chest. 

O’Neill’s body jerked as a shot of energy burst through him, restarting his heart. He coughed bringing out more fluid, then, before he threw up, the being turned him onto his side again, so he wouldn’t choke. The light seemed to be less strong around the being now, allowing an unearthly, luminous human like face to be glimpsed. 

It picked up O’Neill’s pack and weapon and took them through into a smaller cave. A few seconds later it returned and carefully carried O’Neill into the same cave.

This cave was dry and had soft silt piled to a depth of several inches all over the rocks showing at some point the river water reached even in here. Within the smaller space the being had gathered a rough pile of rocks together in the centre of the floor. Now it touched them and seemed to concentrate. The rocks began to glow, at first a dull red then a brighter red, giving off a delicious heat which immediately warmed the cool air in the chamber. The being opened O’Neill’s pack and extracted his thermal sleeping bag, spreading it out alongside the heated rocks. Next it began to strip the unconscious man, gently and carefully, before laying each item of clothing on the opposite side of the rocks so that they would dry.

When O’Neill was down to his shorts the being used O’Neill’s first aid pack to patch up as many of his injuries as possible. Myriad cuts and bruises adorned his body, and it appeared he had at least three cracked or broken ribs. O’Neill was way past the stage where a shivering response could warm him. He was deeply hypothermic. The being pushed O’Neill into his sleeping bag, touched the rocks again so they glowed almost white hot then slid into the bag with him, carefully holding the injured man to it’s body.

Briefly O’Neill crawled towards consciousness. He was aware he wasn’t alone but he couldn’t see who was with him.

“Who is it?” he croaked.

“It’s alright Jack, it’s me. It’s Daniel.”

Jack digested the news quite calmly before asking,

“Am I dead?”

The glow around the being dimmed and it looked almost human again as it chuckled saying,

“No, Jack. You’re not dead. We just need to get you warm again.”

“If I’m not dead, how can I be with you?”

“I’ll explain later, when you’re more awake,” Daniel promised.

“Will you still be here when I wake up again?”

“I’ll still be here.”

O’Neill subsided back into silence as Daniel held him carefully, warming his friend’s dangerously cold body with his energy whilst trying not to aggravate Jack’s injuries.

“’Missed you,” O’Neill whispered, on the edge of conscious thought.

“I’ve missed you too, Jack,” Daniel replied softly, even though he knew Jack couldn’t hear him.

 

Gamely Davies limped along in the rear whilst Carter tried to raise O’Neill on her radio. And for the umpteenth time was met by a static hiss.

“O’Neill’s radio may have been damaged by his immersion in the river,” Teal’c said, in which, for him, was an attempt at comfort.

“Major!” Davies said, wearily.

Carter turned around to see her colleague hanging onto the wall in an attempt to stay on his feet. She retraced her steps back to him. His face was shining with sweat.

“Sit down Davies, let’s have a look at your legs again,” she told him kindly.

“Sam, don’t bother. They’re not getting any better. Neither am I,” he replied, grimacing as he slid down the cave wall.

Sam took her pack off and raided her first aid kit for a temperature strip. Davies’ fever was higher than before and she could see the pus from his legs beginning to seep through the dressings and his combat pants.

“You and Teal’c go on and find the Colonel, then come back for me. I’m just slowing you down,” Davies suggested.

Neither mentioned the fact that is was a distinct probability that they may not be able to find the Colonel. He could have drowned in the river and his body washed away or, if he had survived, he may be in an even worse state than Davies. 

A couple of hours after his unscheduled dip Davies had felt pain in his legs and when he had looked was appalled to see both his legs were a mass of suppurating tissue. They had dressed his legs with their field dressings and continued to look for their Commander. Carter was kicking herself now. As soon as they discovered this infection they should have turned back to the Stargate, taken Davies through and returned with a search party. 

Now they were very deep within the cave system and it would take a long time to get back to the gate. The energy readings had changed substantially too. Now there was a small concentration of energy several hundred metres ahead with more of, for want of a better description, negative energy closing in on the positive energy reading. Carter continued to study the readings, biting her lip. This new energy frequency reminded her of something, something she couldn’t quite remember.

“Major?” Davies queried.

“What? Oh! Yes, OK. We’ll track to these coordinates, if we can’t find Colonel O’Neill we’ll come back here, get you back to the Stargate then return with a full search party.”

She didn’t need to add that if they hadn’t found him by that point there would be little chance of finding him at all, as it had been several hours since he had gone missing. The longer the time the lower the chance of recovery.

Jack coughed loudly, his breathing harsh and uneven. Daniel simply held him closer, trying to transfer as much of his own energy into the sickening body in his arms, as he could. Jack coughed again his body shaking with the effort and pain and then tried to turn over.

“Shh Jack, It’s alright, I’m here,” Daniel said soothingly.

Jack went rigid then cautiously asked,

“Daniel? Danny is that you?”

Then he made a huge effort to turn and face the man who was holding him so gently.

Jack couldn’t believe his eyes. It was Daniel’s face looking back at him, but he was shining and so luminous he was lighting up the cave. Tentatively he put his hand out to touch the face before him. It felt normal and warm like skin. Daniel closed his eyes and turned his face into the touch like a cat being petted. He had missed his friends so much, being able to feel Jack’s hand on his face was wonderful.   
Jack could also feel the body touching his own all the way down to their toes. That too felt like an ordinary human body.

“Am I dreaming?” he asked wonderingly.

Daniel half smiled before answering,

“No and you’re not dead either.”

Another grating cough took Jack unawares. Daniel pressed his hand against Jack’s chest instinctively knowing it would ease the pain a little.

“I’m hallucinating, aren’t I?”

“No. I am here, but you are sick. You need to get back to the Stargate and Doctor Fraiser. Do you think you can walk?”

“Don’t know until I try. How did you get here? We….I thought we’d never see you again.”

“I didn’t think I’d see you again either.”

“How did you get here?” Jack asked again, beginning to shiver even though he was sweating.

“I don’t know Jack. I knew you would be here though.”

He didn’t add he also knew Jack was going to be extremely ill very, very soon if he wasn’t taken back through the Stargate.

Suddenly Daniel sensed movement on the other side of the cave where there shouldn’t be any, it screamed ‘danger’ to him.

“Jack!” he said urgently, taking the other man’s hand away from his face.

Jack didn’t respond, sunk too deep into his fever dreams.

“Jack, listen to me, you need to get dressed quickly, we’ve got to get out of here.”

“What’s the matter?” Jack asked, his voice sounding tired and far away.

“We’re in danger here….”

Daniel stopped talking when he realised Jack had stopped listening and had passed out. His fever was very high and getting worse. Daniel scrambled out of the sleeping bag and quickly pulled Jack out so he could get some clothes back on him. His jacket had dried stiff as had his trousers and boots. He managed to get the jacket onto his friend’s limp, body but that was all. A shadow detached itself from the cave wall and darted towards them. Instinctively Daniel lifted his hand. A bolt of crackling blue light hit the shadow, shattering it. Pieces of the dark fabric of its body spread around the cave. Before most of the pieces had hit the ground other shadows reached out and devoured the pieces, looking expectantly at Daniel for more. 

Daniel shifted his senses again and could see that they were surrounded by these creatures. The only emotion he could feel from them was hunger and the need to feed. Experimentally he moved away from Jack. Some of them followed his progress and moved out of his way but most transferred their attention soley onto Jack. As far as they were concerned, Colonel O’Neill was the main course and in the state he was in, he wouldn’t be putting up much of a fight. Daniel moved back in front of Jack, protecting him with his own body.

“Jack! Jack you have to get up!” he shouted trying to keep an eye on these predators.

O’Neill didn’t move. Daniel bent down and shook him awake.

“Wha’?”

“Jack, get dressed. We’ve got to get out of here, now!”

The Colonel’s training kicked in at the tone of command. Quickly he donned his trousers and boots but the effort though was nearly too much for him. He collapsed against the cave wall panting and coughing. Daniel risked a look. Even in the last few minutes Jack had quite obviously deteriorated. The bones on his face were stark and prominent, his eyes hollowed and his skin grey and sheened with sweat.

“Jack, you need to stay with it,” Daniel said warningly.

O’Neill nodded wearily. It was taking all of his concentration and energy just to stay upright, let along walking.

“Danny, I’m not going to be much good to you here,” O’Neill whispered, too spent to raise his voice any further. “Find Teal’c and Carter and get out of here,” he ordered.

“Sorry Jack, no can do. Either we both walk out of here or neither of us do,” Daniel replied firmly.

The shadows were closing in slowly and surely. With the certainty of a pack of scavengers they knew O’Neill could not defend himself. Daniel immediately placed himself back in front of O’Neill’s body. 

They would have to go through him first and apparently they did not find him as palatable. A scuffling sound alerted his attention to more visitors entering this part of the cave system.

There was a shocked silence as Carter and Teal’c rounded the corner into the cave and saw the diffuse light wasn’t coming from Jack’s torch. Sam’s mouth dropped open in shock as she recognised the glowing being in front of them.

“DanielJackson!”

“Hi Teal’c. Don’t think you should let those guys behind you get too near,” he warned as several shadows turned and tried to close in on this new source of sustenance.

Carter and Teal’c quickly made their way over to where Daniel was standing in front of Jack.

“Colonel!” Sam shouted, scared by his appearance.

Jack eventually opened his eyes.

“Carter?”

“Yes Sir. We’re getting you back to the Stargate, Sir.”

Slowly O’Neill shook his head. He was having great difficulty breathing through the pain in his chest and he knew his concentration was drifting away. By the way the rest of his body felt he knew he was gravely ill.

“Carter, get Teal’c, Davies, Daniel and yourself out of here,” he whispered painfully.

“No!”

“Please Carter, don’t argue with me…”

“No Sir. You’re coming with us. You can’t defend yourself against these creatures and we aren’t going to leave you alone.”

Jack waited until he had breath to speak again before saying,

“I’m dying, Sam. If they’re trying to get to me it will give you and the others more chance of getting to the Gate. Get out of here. That’s an order.”

Sam looked as if she was about to disobey a direct order before Daniel spoke up saying quietly,

“It’s alright Sam, I’ll stay and take care of him.”

She turned her gaze onto Daniel, her eyes filling with tears imagining that Daniel was here to take the Colonel from this plane of existence. 

“What can you do for him and how did you get here?” she questioned.

“I think I can help him and I don’t know how I got here,” he replied honestly.

Suddenly Sam was suspicious of this look alike.

“How do we know you are really Daniel?” she asked sharply, swinging her weapon into a position to fire at him.

“Your own eyes should tell you that,” Daniel replied gently.

“You could be anything taking Daniel’s form,” she persisted.

He thought about it for a moment before saying,

“I suppose I could be, but I certainly feel as I did before.”

This didn’t appear to cut any ice with Sam at all. Even Teal’c was beginning to look doubtful.

“What do you want me to say?”

“If you’re really Daniel you’ll know the name of the Goa’uld who joined with me,” she snapped.

Without missing a beat he replied,

“Jolinar, and she wasn’t Goa’uld she was Tok ‘Ra. Jolinar gave her life to save yours. Her memories led us to make contact with the Tok’Ra. When your father was dying of cancer he blended with Selmek and became a liaison between the Tau’Re and the Tok’Ra. Anything else?”

“What is the name of my daughter?” Teal’c asked.

“You have a son called Rey’tc, no daughter that I know of.,” Daniel replied promptly.

“Which school does Colonel O’Neill’s son attend?”

“Charlie’s dead, Sam,” he replied gently, “Sara and Jack split up soon after Charlie accidentally killed himself with Jack’s gun.”

He waited a moment before saying,

“If I’m not Daniel Jackson, I certainly seem to have a lot of his memories. Sam, all I want to do is to help you.”

Sam lowered her weapon and explained,

“You don’t exactly look human.”

“What did you expect?” he asked wryly, “I had to lose a lot of energy to get back to this quantum level.”

At this Sam opened her eyes wide.

“That huge burst of heat and light? That was you?”

“Probably. We can talk later. We need to get Jack back to the Stargate.”

“How bad is he?”

“Certainly not good. I think he has pneumonia and pleurisy plus some ribs are broken.”

“He breathed in the water?” Sam asked.

Daniel nodded.

“It must be something in the river water which causes this.”

“Why do you say that?” Daniel asked.

”Davies’ legs are also badly infected,” Teal’c told him. “He fell into the water just before O’Neill. The infection took very little time to take hold.”

“I think we need to get moving quickly,” Daniel stated, “Jack certainly needs to be in a hospital and we need to keep our shadowy friends out of reach.”

“What are those things?” Sam asked.

“The natives of this planet. The very hungry natives of this planet.”

”How dangerous are they?” she asked.

“I know you shouldn’t let them touch you. I don’t know how I know that either.”

“I will also assist you with O’Neill, DanielJackson,” Teal’c said in his usual tone.

“I would be grateful, my old friend,” Daniel acknowledged. “Can we start making a move now please?”

Teal’c and Daniel hauled O’Neill to his feet then Teal’c bent to take the Colonel’s weight across his shoulders, prepared to carry his commander all the way to the Stargate if necessary. 

The shadow creatures, sensing their meal was leaving, chose that precise moment to attack. Teal’c was knocked off balance and sprawled on the floor whilst Carter and Daniel were fully occupied trying to keep the predators away from the two downed men. Carter’s machine gun had little effect of them, bullets passed straight through their bodies. Daniel was having more success throwing a few energy bolts but he knew he couldn’t keep expending energy at this level. Within a matter of seconds Teal’c had gained his feet and was bringing his staff weapon to bear. However, it didn’t have quite the effect he was expecting. 

Instead of scattering before the onslaught the creatures lined up to be shot. The energy from the weapon caused their bodies to become lighter coloured whilst specks of something within them began to sparkle and glow.

“Stop!” Sam cried, “It’s feeding them, not disabling them!”

The reaction was so unexpected all three of them took their eyes off the Colonel for the wrong few seconds allowing two of the creatures to get near enough to touch O’Neill.

By the time Daniel noticed and drove off the predators Jack was almost dead. His pulse was barely there.

Snarling Sam angrily struck two flares and threw them towards the shadows. The creatures howled in the sudden magnesium bright light and fled from the cave.

“They can take energy from a human.” Daniel said, assessing the damage quickly. 

“Vampires,” Sam replied, “Only they don’t take blood, they take energy.”

“Whatever they are, they have nearly killed O’Neill,” Teal’c told them, checking on his C.O’s pulse.

“Not yet they haven’t,” Danny replied firmly.

He placed one hand on O’Neill’s head and the other over his heart. Carefully Daniel began to feed his own life energy into the body beneath his hands. Too fast and this would certainly kill his friend and too slow it wouldn’t be enough to help him. As his energy passed out of his body, the glow around his skin diminished. Slowly Jack’s breathing got stronger. When he judged it was enough Daniel took his hands away, noticing how they were shaking and how tired he felt.

“Let’s go Teal’c, “ Sam ordered crisply helping her colleague to lift the Colonel into a comfortable position across his broad shoulders.

“Daniel, are you alright?” 

He shook his head,

“Not really.”

“Can you walk?”

He nodded and got to his feet. 

He picked up Teal’c’s staff weapon to use as a crutch on the walk back to where Davies had been left. Which presented another problem. Davies also had a roaring infection and was unconscious. Gently Teal’c deposited the Colonel on the ground, well away from the river. Without a word being spoken, Daniel laid his hands on Davies’ legs. This time when he had finished there was no glow left at all. He looked completely human again. A very tired looking human. Working entirely on instinct Sam offered him one of her high energy ration bars. He took it and slowly ate it.

“Do you have any more of those?” he asked, when he had finished.

She gave him what she had as did Teal’c. When he had finished the food he looked marginally less tired.

“Do you feel up to carrying on?” she asked.

He nodded and got to his feet, then leaned down to give a wide-eyed and shocked Davies a hand.

The journey back through the cave system was accomplished in silence. The creatures seemed to be keeping well out of their way now. Carter was busy on point whilst Teal’c and Daniel were fully occupied helping the wounded. Emerging from the dank caves into morning light and seeing the Stargate was a very good feeling indeed.

Quickly Carter dialled home allowing the men to step through the gate in front of her. Taking one last look around she failed to notice several grey shadows slide through the event horizon just before her.

 

He could feel something soft, silky and warm under his hand. Experimentally he moved his fingers a little. A sort of soft snuffling greeted this movement then silence fell once more. O’Neill was feeling warm and lazy. Sleepily he opened his eyes. Doctor Faiser’s smiling face shifted into focus.

“Good evening Colonel. How are you feeling?”

“Hmmm. Not bad.”

“Good.” 

She adjusted the drip which snaked away into his arm.

“Do you remember what happened?”

O’Neill thought about it.

“Sorta. Fell in a river. Got knocked about and nearly drowned. Then I think I got sick.”

He snorted quietly. “I must have been pretty sick I thought Daniel was looking after me.”

Fraiser smiled.

“Yes, you were pretty sick. I’ve never seen a case of pneumonia and pleurisy develop so fast. It would appear that something in the river water promotes highly debilitating infections.” 

“I remember something about shadows. Was that real too?”

She nodded,

“Apparently so. Energy vampires Sam calls them. They take energy from the human body. They very nearly killed you.”

Jack lifted his hand to rub his eyes.

“And now, as you’ve seen the Colonel is awake and much better, perhaps you’d like to go to bed and get some rest yourself?” Faiser said tartly. “You are still pretty weak.”

O’Neill opened his eyes expecting to see Sam or Teal’c hovering at his bedside. When he turned and saw Daniel wrapped in a blue robe and leaning on his bed, gently smiling he couldn’t believe his eyes.

“Daniel! What? How? When ……?”

Daniel’s smile increased in wattage.

“Hello Jack and I don’t know how I got back here.” As he’d told everyone he’d met so far.

Jack lunged forward and enfolded the younger man in a bear hug. Daniel was laughing delightedly as he returned the pressure.

“I’d better not be dreaming this,” Jack said fiercely, his voice muffled against Daniel’s neck and shoulder.

“If you’re dreaming then so am I, “ Danny replied.

Fraiser walked away smiling to herself. She would let the boys have a few minutes together before she shooed Daniel away into a bed of his own. She didn’t say so but she was still rather worried about how weak he was. Apart from putting him on a high calorie IV drip and keeping him on bed rest there was little else she could do for him.

Jack let go of Daniel as soon as he felt the other man’s grip on him fading. He pulled back to take a good look at Daniel. Dark circles ringed his eyes, his cheeks looked more hollow than Jack remembered as well. He looked exhausted.

“You OK?”

“Tired, that’s all Jack.”

”Maybe you’d better get into that bed Doc Fraiser mentioned. Otherwise she’s going to be after my hide!”

Danny smiled, unable to hide his weariness.

“Thanks, Jack I will. I wanted to make sure you were OK first,” Danny replied softly.

“Hey!” Jack stretched out his hand to cup Daniel’s cheek. Jack swallowed seemingly thinking about what to say whilst feasting his eyes on his friend. “Nice to see you again,” he said quietly.

Danny gave him a heart stoppingly pleased smile, putting his hand over Jack’s but didn’t say anything. Slowly he got to his feet and shuffled around Jack’s bed to his own. Jack kept his eyes on him all the way around until he had settled on top of the bed next to his own. Within seconds Jack saw Daniel relax and fall asleep.

A few minutes later Dr Fraiser quietly approached Jack’s bed. Jack was still looking across at Daniel.

“Everything alright Colonel?” she asked quietly.

Jack frowned before asking,

“He doesn’t look too good, Doc. What’s wrong with him?”

”Exhaustion, as far as I can tell. He wore himself out getting Major Davies and you off that planet in one piece.”

”What? Where were Carter and Teal’c?”

“They were there, but it was Danny who kept you alive. He gave whatever energy he had to you both. Reading between the lines it sounds like you’d drowned when he first found you. You were deeply hypothermic then the infections set in and then those energy vampires got hold of you and nearly finished you off completely. You’re getting to be as indestructible as Dr Jackson!”

Jack smiled slightly at the doctor’s attempt at humour. She hadn’t allayed his fears on Daniel’s health though.

“Is he in any danger now?” Jack asked, getting her back the topic of conversation.

She sighed before replying,

“I honestly don’t know, Jack. He’s extremely weak, he’s not eating enough and his energy levels aren’t returning to normal. It hasn’t helped his case that he’s insisted on sitting at your bedside for the past twelve hours either.”

”I thought you would have put a stop to that!”

“Wherever he’s been he returned even more stubborn than when he went!” she returned.

Jack took that to mean Doctor Fraiser had lost that particular argument.

“Don’t worry Jack, we’re doing everything we can for him. I’m going to put up a high calorie IV. That should help him.”

He nodded knowing Janet would try to help him to the best of her abilities and beyond. She patted him arm, checked his IV, opened the valve so it flowed into him quicker and then turned her attention to Daniel. She touched his face and the back of his neck then called a nurse across to her. A low voiced consultation followed then the nurse left whilst Janet checked Daniel’s pulse. 

Very shortly the nurse returned wheeling an IV stand and carrying a thermal blanket over her arm. Efficiently both women pulled the bedclothes from under Daniel and then tucked him in with the blanket on top. He didn’t wake-up or even move. Janet then took his left hand out, pushing the sleeve of his robe up his arm to get to the shunt on the inside of his arm. Quickly she attached the IV line to the shunt then opened the valve all the way. She made a few more notes on his records before hanging the chart on the end of his bed. As she was leaving she noticed Jack was still awake and looking at Daniel.

“Do you want something to help you sleep, Colonel?”

He shook his head.

“No thanks. I’ll be fine.”

She nodded and then dimmed the light above Daniel’s bed.

Jack woke suddenly at the commotion from the other end of the ward realising he must have fallen asleep while he was still keeping his attention on Daniel. Daniel didn’t wake and the noise was soon muted. 

An airman was taken off a stretcher, placed in a bed at the far end of the ward and curtains pulled around the bed. A little later the nurse left and Fraiser reappeared pulling the curtains back. The airman appeared to be sleeping soundly. She hung his chart on the end of his bed and stood looking down at the sleeping man then slowly turned and made her way out towards her office.

Jack was just dozing off again when the same thing happened. Another airman was brought in on a stretcher. Again he was admitted to the ward and quiet reigned again. Daniel didn’t wake at all, for which Jack was thankful. He obviously needed his sleep. 

By the time this had happened for the fourth time, it was starting to irritate Jack.

“For crying out loud!” he muttered under his breath. What was wrong with these people?

When the new arrival had been settled into a bed Jack motioned the nurse over.

“What’s going on?” he asked.

“These men were found unconscious all over the base. We don’t know why, Sir.”

He nodded then dismissed the nurse. He found the rash of unconscious airmen worrying.   
He had recognised the last two men who had been brought in, their duties were usually in more remote parts of the base. He hadn’t really seen the first two men so he couldn’t tell if this were coincidence or not. 

Jack stayed awake feeling restless, his scalp prickling as if he were under observation. Yes, there was a camera in here but he was so used to those all seeing eyes he forgot about them most of the time. This felt more like under covert observation. The ward remained quiet with no more men being admitted. 

Quietly Jack lay back in his bed, feigning rest, if not actual sleep. Out of the corner of his eye he thought he saw someone moving towards his and Daniel’s beds. When he surreptitiously turned his head in that direction he couldn’t see anyone. Concentrating on that side of the room he was certain he could see ‘something’. It moved slowly and carefully, keeping out of the patches of light provided by the night lamps burning in the small ward of patients. It seemed to move with ease between chairs and beds then it reached forward, a grey shadow falling across Daniel’s face. 

A shadow! Suddenly a fragment of memory came rushing back to Jack. Daniel, standing over him, defending him against shadows ringing the walls of the cave.

Jack pushed back the bedclothes, yelling and shouting for help at the top of his voice. He pulled the IV line out of his arm in his haste to move, adding dripping blood to the general melee. Once he was on his feet he knew he wouldn’t be able to defend Daniel from this intruder, he was too weak and dizzy himself to be much good. 

The sound of running feet coming in his direction heralded the approach of Doctor Fraiser and several other members of her medical team. Jack could hardly make himself heard above the uproar but finally he shouted loud enough to drown out the others,

“We have an intruder!”

Daniel looked around in complete confusion at all the people milling around his bed.

“Jack! Jack what is going on?” he asked, then, catching sight of the blood running down his arm, “You’re bleeding!”

Doctor Fraiser had succeeded in pushing Jack back onto his own bed, whilst Daniel was sitting up and looking around wide-eyed.

“Colonel, get back into bed, now!” she ordered him, then turning aside to her nurse, “Get me a fresh shunt pack and an IV line please.”

“Daniel, are you alright?” Jack asked, wondering if the shadow had managed to touch him.

“I’m OK Jack,” Daniel reassured him.

“Doctor, get this base on alert we have an intruder in here. It’s one of those shadow creatures from the caves!” Jack shouted at his doctor.

“What?” she questioned.

“Just do it!” he thundered back at her. 

“Alright Colonel. But are you sure? You’re on some powerful medication, painkillers and antibiotics.”

Jack took a deep breath trying to control his temper. The burst of adrenaline was wearing off and he was starting to feel tired again.

“I’m sure I saw something reach out towards Daniel.”

“Alright. I’ll get General Hammond while you get back into bed and let me get some more antibiotics into you.”

With very bad grace Jack subsided back into his bed and allowed Janet to replace the shunt he had torn out and set up a new intravenous drip of antibiotics and saline. Daniel was keeping his eyes on him as well, though not saying anything. A few minutes later General Hammond entered the Infirmary.

“Colonel, good to see you looking better,” he said, taking in the look of temper still on his face, “What’s all this about?”

“I think one of those shadow creatures has come back through the gate with us Sir. I saw it creeping up on Daniel.”

Hammond spared a glance for Daniel before turning back to Jack.

“Well I have to tell you that we’ve been monitoring for the energy frequencies since you all came back through the gate and so far we haven’t found anything. Major Carter suggested it just as a precaution.”

Jack settled back against the pillows, his expression shuttered.

“General, I saw it!”

Hammond sighed. O’Neill was a good officer, he cared about his men and he had just had one who he had seen die, to all intents and purposes, returned to him. He had also been extremely ill, in fact, he too had died for a few minutes. Quickly he made his decision.

“Alright Jack. I’ll get Sam to rerun the tests and I’ll leave a couple of men in here.”

Here he motioned a couple of armed airmen to come into the infirmary. 

Daniel could see Jack’s temper starting to rise again. Before it could erupt he said quietly,

“Jack!”

Jack turned his head to look at Daniel.

“It’ll be OK. Don’t worry.”

Hammond was amazed when those few quiet words soothed O’Neill almost immediately.

“Get some sleep Colonel. We’ll speak again in the morning.”

“Yes Sir,” Jack muttered. 

Hammond turned to leave and motioned Doctor Fraiser to accompany him. Further down the corridor he stopped and asked without preamble,

“Could he have seen one of those things Doctor?”

“He could have Sir, but as you say, Sam has run tests for the last three days and there was nothing found.”

“What about the airmen who have been passing out? Could that have anything to do with this?”

“Perhaps, but I’m only keeping them on as a precaution. They recovered very quickly. I couldn’t find anything wrong with them.”

He looked at her without speaking, so she continued.

“Colonel O’Neill has been on some powerful painkilling medication, he has had a lot of trauma in the past few days. Daniel Jackson has been returned to us. He has always has been a little over protective where his team is involved…”

Hammond’s face softened.

“You think this is because of Dr Jackson?”

“It’s more than possible, Sir. He’s lost him once, he won’t want to see that happen again.”

“He is black ops trained. Would he imagine something like this even when it concerns Dr Jackson?”

“His mind has a lot to try and come to terms with. I’m not concerned about a little paranoia under the circumstances and Daniel seems to have the ability to calm Colonel O’Neill. I think he’ll be fine soon.”

“A little paranoia? I think he’s doing fine with a little. Keep me informed Doctor,” Hammond replied as he walked away.

“Well there they go, Daniel. Off to get my one piece jacket and rubber room prepared!”

Daniel smiled wryly.

“I promise I’ll visit you there more often than you did me,” he replied, his blue eyes sparkling with a touch of mischief.

“Oww!”

“Get some sleep Jack, you look like you need it.”

”Are you implying I’m losing my superb good looks?” Jack asked, outrageously fluttering his eyelashes at Daniel.

“Let’s just say I never did go for the eyes like ‘piss holes in the snow’, look,” he replied dryly.

The airman on their left allowed a smile to flitter across his face.

“Airman!” Jack said.

“Sir!” he replied coming to attention.

“Keep your eyes peeled. I apparently need my beauty sleep.”

“Sir. Yes Sir!” he replied around a grin.

Both men settled back in their respective and beds for what was left of the night. Jack lay awake for a while thinking. He was sure he had seen something and was determined to find out what, whatever Sam’s scientific scans turned up. He was a little surprised when he fell asleep between one thought and the next.

Next time Daniel awoke Jack was sitting in his bed, propped up on pillows with a monitor and video on his bed table in front of him and the remote control in his hand. He was watching the security tapes from the infirmary for the previous night. Or that’s what it appeared to be. Daniel was realising, sadly, that his eyesight was returning to what it had been before his transformation. He searched around trying to find the comforting presence he had become used to in his mind, but that too was fading as his body and mind returned to being fully human. Quietly it wished him a fond goodbye, then faded altogether. Daniel lay basking in the last shreds of its comfort before he opened his eyes again.

“What are you doing?”

Jack didn’t even spare him a glance.

“Going over last night’s security tapes,” he replied shortly.

“Sam didn’t find anything then?”

“She’s still looking.”

Daniel nodded and craned his neck to see the picture.

“What time is it?” Daniel asked, conscious of his stomach feeling very empty.

Jack turned to his side table and picked up his watch.

“It’s fourteen ten.”

Danny’s eyebrows rose, no wonder he was feeling hungry, he’d missed breakfast and lunch.

“How long have you been looking at those tapes?” he asked curiously.

“Since this morning,” came the reply.

“Quite a while then.”

”Yeah.”

Jack turned and looked at him before asking,

“You hungry? Janet wanted to let you sleep,” without waiting for a reply Jack pressed the nurse call button. 

“Yes Colonel?”

From the tone of her voice Daniel guessed that Jack hadn’t been a model patient all morning.

“Can you find something for Daniel to eat? He’s hungry.”

The nurse turned to him with a smile.

“That’s a good sign Dr Jackson. I’ll let Dr Fraiser know you’re awake.”

“Thank you nurse,” Daniel said softly.

Jack returned to the perusal of the tapes whilst Daniel clumsily struggled to sit up.

“Hey, hold on, I’ll give you a hand,” Jack said as he heard the noise. He pushed his table back and had his legs over the side of the bed just as Dr Fraiser arrived at their beds.

“You, back in bed!” she said to Jack then turned her attention to Daniel, “And you! Stay where you are until I’ve had a look at you.”

Glaring at Jack she pulled the curtains around Daniel’s bed and proceeded to give him a quick examination. Just as she finished his late lunch arrived. Janet was happier with his condition after his long rest. It did seem to have done him good.

Daniel wolfed his food without really noticing what he was eating, just that he was hungry and it was filling him up. He was more interested in looking at the monitor with Jack. It was awkward for Daniel to crane his head around. When Jack noticed he called for one of the nurses and got her to push their beds a little closer together. They watched the tapes in silence for quite some time. The quality wasn’t of the best, which didn’t help them trying to spot a vagrant shadow. 

Daniel looked up when he sensed someone hovering nearby.

“Hi Daniel, you’re looking better,” Sam said breezily, trying to put off the moment when she was going to have to speak to Colonel O’Neill.

“Thanks Sam,” he replied genuinely pleased to see her.

“Sam!”

“Hello Sir,” she said recognising the moment was upon her. “I’m sorry Sir, I can’t find any trace of unusual energy frequencies as there were on the planet surface.”

Jack slumped back against his pillows.

“Nothing?”

“Nothing!”

“Er, Jack!” Daniel began.

“Yeah, alright, I’ll switch it off,” Jack replied heavily.

“No! What’s that?” Daniel asked, pointing to the screen. 

As Sam had been talking, Daniel saw a greyish shape on the tapes. It was framed against the wall at the back of his bed. As no person was standing there, there shouldn’t have been a shadow either. Jack rewound the tape and all three of them watched it.

“There is something there, Sir, “ Sam agreed. “Give me the tape and I’ll try and clean up the picture.”

He ejected the cassette and handed it to the Major who bounded out of the Infirmary without even saying goodbye.

“Well done Daniel. I was about ready to believe it was my imagination,” Jack said quietly.

“My pleasure Jack,” he replied, leaning back in his bed.

Now the excitement was over Jack’s body demanded the rest it needed. He relaxed into a peaceful sleep as Daniel watched, the remote control slipping out of his fingers onto the bed. Daniel continued to watch Jack sleep noting how the lines on his cheeks seemed to be etched deeper than he remembered them and the vertical furrow above his nose was now a deep cut cleft.

A male nurse came over doing the afternoon drug round. He checked Daniel’s IV bag and found it was empty. Carefully he removed the needle from the shunt port in his arm, cleaned the port and restoppered it.

“Dr Fraiser says if you can keep eating you may not need another one of those,” he told him quietly.

“Good. Can you take that out as well?” Daniel asked just as quietly.

“Not just yet. If you do need more it’s better not to have to make more holes in your arm,” he explained, smiling.

Next he turned his attention to Colonel O’Neill’s IV. His solution of antibiotics and saline was replaced with another IV bag of just saline. Again the nurse cleaned out the shunt port then reconnected the intravenous line. Throughout it all Jack didn’t even twitch. Turning back to Daniel the nurse asked,

“Would you like something to read Dr Jackson? I can find you some magazines.”

Daniel smiled and shook his head saying,

“I don’t think I can see to read. Do you know if Janet, Dr Fraiser has any of my old glasses still around?”

“I’ll check for you,” he offered. 

Several minutes later the nurse returned bearing a pair of round glasses and several magazines.

“Try these.”

Daniel took the proffered glasses. Immediately he could see clearly.

“Thank you!”

“Dr Fraiser found them. She remembered seeing them in Colonel O’Neill’s office.”

Daniel smiled and began looking through the magazines, vaguely wondering when he had left a pair of glasses in Jack’s office.

The next time Daniel woke it was to find someone was carefully removing his glasses.

“Hmmm.”

“Sorry Daniel, I didn’t mean to wake you,” she said, leaving his glasses on his face.

“It’s OK Sam. What’s wrong?”

“Nothing. I mean, there is something wrong but the Colonel was correct, there are intruders on the base, only we can’t detect them.”

“What?” he asked intelligently.

“Look,” she turned the monitor on Jack’s table around and slipped in a video cassette. Jack obligingly switched the unit on.

“This is the security tape from the Infirmary. I used the computers to clean up the picture and then I added some filters.”

There as clear as day on the monitor screen was a humanoid shadow reaching out to touch Daniel. He shivered involuntarily.

Sam fast forwarded the tape whilst explaining,

“…so I took the tapes from the gate room for the time period when we returned from PX7433 and filtered them in the same way. Look there.”

On the screen Teal’c could be seen emerging from the event horizon and helping Major Davies, closely followed by Jack and Daniel. Then there was a pause. Four grey shadows spilled through the Stargate next and seemed to seep through the metal ramp, then Sam herself was walking down the ramp. 

“Then I got to thinking about the four airmen who were found unconscious last night, and sure enough….”

There on screen were the airmen being touched by a shadow.

“Has General Hammond seen these?” Jack asked.

“Yes Sir. He’s ordered a full shutdown and we’re searching the base right now.”

“But you already ran two scans. Why didn’t you find anything?”

“Well, it’s only a theory Daniel but I think that whatever they touch, or ingest then their bodies reflect the frequency of that energy.”

“And they’ve been taking humans,” Daniel finished for her.

Jack looked from one to the other.

“They’re like a mirror, Sir. If they take human energy they then show up as human energy,” Sam explained, taking pity on his confusion.

“So how are we going to find them?” Jack asked.

“I’ve added as many different filters to all the security camera’s as possible. We should be able to track them.”

“And what are you going to do with them once you find them,” Daniel asked reasonably.

“Send them back to PX7433,” she replied.

“Sam!” Dr Fraiser called waving a telephone receiver at them.

“I’ll visit later Sir, Daniel.”

Silently Jack watched Sam take the call then jog out of the door. Daniel could read his expression very accurately.

“I wouldn’t if I were you,” he said.

“Wouldn’t what?” Jack asked absently.

“Think about getting out of that bed and lending a hand. Janet has her eye on you.”

Jack shifted his focus and found Dr Fraiser glaring at him, daring him to make a move. Considering his options Jack replied,

“I think you’re right Daniel. I’ll stay here with you!”

“Wise decision.”

 

“Please!” 

The whisper seemed to echo through the generator room like dry leaves blown along the ground.

“Please,” it repeated. “We’re hungry.”

The power output from the generator stayed down.

“Who are you?” Sam asked, holding her magnesium flare high above her head.

“We are The People,” one of the shadows whispered. “We hunger and starve. There are so few of us left now. We didn’t mean to hurt you.”

One of the shadows, a lighter grey than the others detached itself and came towards her.

“Stop there!”

“I won’t hurt you.”

“Just stay where you are.” 

It stopped several feet from her.

“We came through the circle with you. You have so much energy here.”

“Have you always lived on the planet?” she asked curious despite herself.

“Always. Before we always had enough to feed our people. Then the sun grew dark and turned away from us and we began to hunger and die. Then we saw you and you sparkled with energy, energy which would feed our whole starving population.”

The shadow’s ‘hands’ reached forward in supplication.

“We didn’t know that to touch you would be to harm you.”

“You take our energy, our life energy.”

“You give up your energy so easily, it slides into our being and warms and feeds us. When we saw what our touch does to you we stopped.”

“But you can’t take any type of energy can you? She waved the flare at them gently.”

“No. Not the bright energy. The glowing one, who now looks as you do. To touch him hurt us badly.”

“Daniel?”

“Dan yel?”

“Daniel wouldn’t hurt you deliberately. Just as you say you didn’t mean to harm us.”

It nodded sadly.

“What will you do to us?”

 

“How are our grey friends?” Jack asked, fully dressed and perched on the side of his bed.

“Full of gratitude Sir. We sent them back through the Stargate with a nuclear powered generator. They can take and use the energy it produces to feed their people. They can even use the slight amount of radiation it gives off.”

“Well at least we’ll be able to track them in future. They’ll be glowing in the dark.”

Sam smiled as she said,

“I hear Janet is letting you go home today.”

“At last,” Jack replied grinning from ear to ear. 

“You must be pleased to be getting out of here,” Sam pressed Daniel.

“Actually, I don’t have anyplace to go,” he replied, “So, I’ll be staying here in one of the guest rooms.”

“Sure you have some place to go!” Jack said affronted that Daniel would think he was being deserted. 

“You stayed in my spare room for weeks before, you can do it again.”

“Well, if you’re sure that’s OK. I just thought perhaps you, umm, might not, umm…”

“I’m not living with anyone Daniel so just relax.”

“Are you all ready?” Janet asked. “I’m dropping them off at Jack’s place,” she explained to Sam.

Daniel raised his eyebrows questioningly. Everyone but him seemed to know the address of his new lodgings.

“Do you mind dropping my car off tonight for me?” she asked Sam.

“Sure, no problem.”

“I don’t see why I can’t drive us home,” Jack murmured, not quite under his breath.

“I don’t want you to drive because you’ve been on bed rest for nearly two weeks and you still need to recuperate,” Janet replied, as if speaking to a recalcitrant child.

“You’ll need to call into the store. There won’t be anything fit to eat at my place,” Jack announced, looking very much like the aforementioned recalcitrant child.

“OK, we’ll call in at the store,” she replied. “Anything else?”

“Daniel’s going to need some clothes, toothbrush, razor and stuff.”

Daniel was getting worried now.

“Umm Jack, I haven’t got any money!”

“Don’t worry about that. I just draw the line at sharing underwear and the same toothbrush with you!”

“Alright, we’ll pick up everything we need on the way home,” Janet said leading the way out of the base feeling like she’d suddenly been asked to take care of two very manipulative children.

“I knew you she’d do it,” Jack whispered to Daniel as they made their way towards the elevators.

 

“This is the last of it,” Janet said, bringing in the last bag of groceries. “Should keep you both going for a while.”

Then seeing Jack eyeing the takeout menus pinned to the notice board she continued, “Plenty of fresh vegetables, meat and fish.”

“I’ll make sure we eat well Janet and thank you for helping us out like this.”

“It’s my pleasure Daniel.”

“Sit down Janet let me make you a coffee,” Daniel replied.

Janet looked at her watch and gave a little gasp.

“I’m sorry I can’t. I’m supposed to be picking Cassie up in half an hour. If you need anything just give me a call. Now remember!”

“Plenty of fresh air, fresh food and gentle exercise,” Jack and Daniel quoted back at her.

She laughed as she made her exit leaving the two men to put the groceries away. 

Whilst they were stowing the food and personal hygiene accoutrements Daniel started a pot of coffee brewing. When they had finished tiding the perishables away after a look at Jack’s pale face Daniel said,

“Go and sit down and I’ll bring you a coffee over when it’s ready.”

Daniel knew the other man must be tired when he went and sat without a murmur of complaint. He poured two cups of his favourite brand of coffee and brought them over to where Jack was sitting. As Daniel held out one of the mugs his eye was caught by the new decoration at the far end of Jack’s apartment. It was a huge bookshelf cum display shelf. Every part of which was stacked with very familiar items.

Jack held out his hand for the coffee then saw where Daniel was looking. 

"Aw crap!" He’d forgotten about that.

Wonderingly Danny wandered over to the shelves whilst Jack remained seated, burying his head in his mug.

The unit was a superb piece of craftsmanship. The bookshelves part of it held every journal Daniel had every written. Nearly one for each world they visited, as well as a lot of his personal favourite books. Smiling he withdrew a hardback copy of Shelley’s poems. It was definitely his old copy of the book, its covers were tattered and the pages well thumbed. He replaced the book and ran his fingers along the tops of the other books. This was like walking into a room and seeing it populated with old friends he hadn’t expected to see ever again. There was his Etruscan vase sitting on one of the higher parts of the display shelves. He ran his finger tips down its cool sides. There was his basalt cat that he’d picked up in the village of Querna on the west bank of Luxor, where the old Egyptian city of Thebes has stood. It wasn’t an antique or even particularly old, he’d just liked it. Next to it were several shards of pottery and two napped pieces of flint he’d picked up on a dig in Northern England. The worked flint was at least five thousand years old. Then he saw his tiny glass pot of sand with three small pieces of limestone. He’d collected the sand from the base of the great pyramid of Cheops in Giza, along with the fragments of limestone which had once adorned the pyramid when he was a small boy. 

There were so many other small artefacts laid out on the shelves. Instinctively he knew these were the items of more sentimental interest rather than the truly collectable pieces he’d owned. He turned back to the books, pulling out a volume here and there and then putting it back. Then he noticed one of the bound journals was missing.

“Abydos.”

“What?”

“Abydos. My Abydos journal is missing,” he told Jack.

Jack got up from the couch and went into his bedroom. A few seconds later he returned and handed Daniel the missing journal.

“I was reading it before, before we left.”

Daniel took the journal and replaced it with its mates. He took a step back and really looked at this eclectic collection. Each item on the shelves was something he had told Jack about. Collecting the sand, getting a stinking cold on the wet, cold dig in Yorkshire. Walking back from the Valley of the Kings and seeing the cat. Lower down on the shelving he saw the delicate creamy alabaster vase he’d acquired at the same time.   
Daniel sat next to Jack, who was still ignoring the unit, and drinking his coffee in silence.

“Why?”

“Why what?” Jack asked without taking his attention away from the aromatic brew in his hands.

“Why those items?”

Jack shrugged, for the first time looking up at the unit.

“They’re the ones I remember you telling me stories about. The flints and the cold you caught on the dig and how the landlord of the pub where you were staying fed you hot toddies every night for a week. Seeing the cat and standing at the door of the shop with it in your hands and looking down over the Ramesseum and onto the Nile just when the sun was setting.”

“And the journals?” Daniel questioned.

“I was there for most of them. But reading the journals I saw those planets through your eyes...” Jack let the sentence drift but Daniel had no trouble completing it in his head. ‘…after you’d gone.’

“Why was my Abydos journal in your bedroom?” he asked softly, his curiosity getting the better of him.

Jack leaned back against the cushions, not looking at Daniel at all. For a time Daniel thought he wasn’t going to answer then Jack began to speak, more to himself than to Daniel.

“I’m a soldier, a commanding officer. I’ve had men die under my command before. I’ve seen men sacrifice their lives for their squadron before. I’ve met unusual people, strange people, amazing people but I’ve never met anyone like you before. When you, you’d gone, I missed our conversations together. I missed your insight, hearing the tone of your voice. I even missed our arguments. When we had to clean out your apartment I asked for and got those,” Jack replied nodding towards the shelves. “When I wanted to hear your voice again I used to read your journals. Do you know you write how you speak?”

“No. I didn’t know that,” Daniel replied quietly, a slight smile on his face.

“You do.”

Finally Jack turned his head and looked at Daniel.

“You were sent back here for some reason, weren’t you? You didn’t really want to come back here, did you?”

Daniel shook his head slowly.

“It’s different there. So different. I can’t put it into words and so much of what happened where I was is fading away. I just can’t remember a lot of it. I can remember thinking that it seemed so unfair that you would die on PX7433 when you are needed. And I did miss you and Sam and Teal’c.”

“You came back to help me?” Jack asked ignoring the emotional last part.

“All I know is that you must stay alive for a little longer at least, but I can’t remember why. I’m flattered you kept the stuff though. Those are my favourite pieces.”

Jack smiled at his friend.

“Do you want a shot of scotch in that coffee?” he asked.

“Please,” Daniel said, handing Jack his mug and going to the shelves again. He had missed his sense of touch most. Jack tapped him on the shoulder and handed him his mug, topped up with coffee and alcohol, leaving his hand companionably in place on Daniel’s shoulder.

“Tell me about the vase again?” Jack asked, pointing to the object with his coffee mug.

“The alabaster? Did you know put a piece of solid alabaster in a shaped hole in the ground and then hand drill out the vase shape?” Daniel asked, turning to look into the velvet eyes to close to his own.

“Really?”

“Really! It’s almost like magic watching the vase slowly take shape.”

Jack nodded. He knew what seeing magic felt like. He’d had that feeling for the last couple of weeks.


End file.
